An Air of Spring
by PrincessDaydream77
Summary: Set after the end of Series 4, with what I think should have happened next. Drama is at every turn in London, as Juliet and Sam's departure has caused chaos and heartbreak, but life at Hotel Babylon must go on. Follow Emily and the rest of the staff as they continue to work flat out to provide the luxury five star service of the hotel, with more than a few surprises on the way.
1. His Choice, Her Heartbreak

An Air of Spring

Summary: Set after the end of Series 4, with what I think should have happened next. Drama is at every turn in London, as Juliet and Sam's departure has caused chaos and heartbreak, but life at Hotel Babylon must go on. Follow Emily and the rest of the staff as they continue to work flat out to provide the luxury five star service of the hotel, with more than a few surprises on the way.

Disclaimer: I do not own Hotel Babylon, its characters or its settings. I am merely borrowing them, so that I can give my version of the brilliant story they never managed to finish.

Chapter One

As the taxi pulled away from the entrance to Hotel Babylon, Emily James ran out of the doors just in time to see it turn the corner and vanish into the distance. She was under no illusions as to who were the occupants of the car, given that no guests had checked out of the hotel, nor had there been any visitors that day. That black car had been called to take Sam Franklin away from the hotel, away from _her_, and there was no doubt in Emily's mind that Juliet was there with him.

Over the few weeks since he had arrived at Hotel Babylon, Sam had become a close friend of the woman's, particularly after her father had had his brush with death in the lift. He had been extremely supportive of her, and had given her plenty of opportunities to prove herself, something that the previous manager, Charlie Edwards, had always seemed reluctant to do. But over time, as she had gotten to know him better and better, the Head of PR had started to realise that he was becoming more than a friend to her, and the previous night's conversation had almost convinced her that he felt the same way.

'_He only said it to try and make me feel better after...'_ her mind told her, though even her own subconscious skimmed over the awful details of what had happened, and what had _almost_ happened, in the staff office. '_He couldn't have really meant what he said to me, about him never noticing that I was beautiful. If he had meant it, then he wouldn't have run off with Juliet without even saying goodbye.'_

The day shift had come to an end now, and it was time for the night staff to take over the running of the building until the morning. However, there was still no sign of Emily, something which Tony found to be a little strange. Usually, when the shift ended, the blonde would be the first one out of the doors, heading off to meet one high class friend or another, often securing bookings from them to stay at the hotel in the process, but he had not seen her for over an hour now. It was more than a little strange, so the concierge decided to investigate.

He began his search by questioning a few of the staff over the phone, asking them if any of them had seen Emily. All of them, unfortunately, gave the same basic response, saying that they had not seen the woman since Sam had left, or for some of them even earlier. Unable to think of any other action to take, Tony stepped out of the main doors, hoping that some fresh air would give him an idea as to what he could do next.

The first thing the concierge noticed when he stepped out into the night air was how quiet the surroundings seemed to be. For somewhere that was situated right at the heart of London, the area seemed almost unrealistically quiet. Tony took a moment to relish the quiet, so close to silence, before his mind made a connection between their missing staff member and the quiet sobbing he could hear coming from behind him.

Sure enough, when he turned and looked down at the thin pavement that edged the hotel, he had to take a second glance to be able to identify the shaking figure as Hotel Babylon's Head of PR. While she was usually immaculately dressed, her make-up carefully applied and not a hair out of place, now, she was a mess, with her hair strewn across the wall behind her and her simple dress was rumpled from her sitting on the floor for so long. '_So, she can fall from grace just like the rest of us.'_ he thought, before he shook his head slightly. '_She looks awful, the poor girl.'_

"Emily?" Tony questioned quietly, bending down beside her. Upon hearing the voice of the man, the blonde raised her head sharply, quickly moving to wipe the remnants of her mascara from her face, as if she expected that he would not notice her upset if there was no visual evidence of it. However, the look that her colleague gave her showed very clearly that he saw right through her façade, and so she stopped trying to pretend, instead sinking back against the wall with a heavy sigh.

"I haven't had any events to deal with this shift, so I thought I'd just sit out here for a little while. I'll come back in in a minute." the young woman sighed, her voice catching ever so slightly on the words, though she managed to hide this well, something that did not go over Tony's head. '_Only someone who's had practice hiding their feelings could do it that well.'_

"It's the end of the shift, Emily." the concierge told her, drawing a gasp out of the blonde woman. He elaborated further on his short explanation. "You've been out of here for over an hour."

"I didn't realise." Emily told him, the shock in her voice the first break in her monotonous behaviour. Tony opened his mouth to ask the young woman why she had stayed out for so long, as the evening was drawing nearer now, but then he recalled her hasty attempts to disguise the fact that she had been crying, and he thought better of this decision. Instead, he got to his feet, reaching his hand down to his colleague.

"Come on, you. Let's get you inside, and get you cleaned up." Tony instructed gently, helping Emily to her feet. She shook violently, partially to do with the temperature of the winter's air and partially to do with the reason for her tears, but cooperated and walked through the hotel doors with her head held high. Internally, the concierge smirked at this, the slightest hint of the woman who had left the doors earlier that day. '_Even when she looks like a wreck, she still manages to behave like a princess, even if I can see it's just an act.'_

Instructing Emily to go and wait in the staff cafeteria for him, the man paused when he reached reception, the expression on his face clearly showing new Head Receptionist Ben what it is he was about to say. As soon as the blonde woman was out of sight, the two men began to make a plan, both with only thing on their mind.

They needed to get their Emily back, before they lost her for good.

A/N: This is my first Hotel Babylon story, but when I saw the last episode, I had to do something, because my imagination was running away with me. Oh, and for Samily fans, don't worry, this is not the end for them! Please review!


	2. A Perfect Future Snatched Away

Chapter Two

A/N: No reviewers.

Sighing quietly, Emily took another sip from the mug of coffee in her hand, trying to stop her hands from shaking. She felt now that this was becoming ridiculous, and that she needed to get a grip on herself. She had not been such an emotional wreck since she had watched her father die in the lift of the hotel, even if he had been resuscitated just a few seconds later, so she saw it as ludicrous that she was behaving like this now, in a situation that was nowhere near as severe as that one had been.

The young woman replaced the mug on the table, biting her lip to try and prevent the tears from returning to her eyes once again, as she recalled Sam holding her to him, after she had revealed her wish to rekindle her relationship with her father. It seemed that no matter what she thought of, she could not take her mind off of the man she had watched drive away in a taxi that morning.

'_He didn't even say goodbye to me.'_ she thought bitterly, as she supposed now if she couldn't stop thinking of Sam, she might as well ask herself the questions her mind was begging her to. '_I mean, he spoke to me this morning, he acted like he cared about me, then and yesterday,... and then he just left without saying goodbye. Who would do that? Who could treat someone they really cared about... like they didn't?'_

There was only one explanation, and that was that he didn't care about her at all. All that wonderful time they spent together last night, all the things Sam had said to her, it was all the product of some expensive wine in the hotel bar, nothing else. It hadn't meant anything. Well, at least not to him...

Suddenly, the door to the staff cafeteria opened wide, and Emily gasped with shock. None of the night staff had a break due for another hour yet, and she had thought that the day staff would have gone home by now. Apparently, not all of them.

"Oh, what's the matter, sweetie?" asked Ben, sitting himself down opposite her at the table by the window. He had worn a bright smile when he had entered the room, but it had now faded away, becoming an expression of friendly concern. "Thinking about Sam?"

Emily looked up from where she had been staring at the surface of the table, a little shocked by Ben's ability to read her emotions better after nearly eighteen months than her own family probably could after twenty six years. She gave no vocal response, as she knew that she did not have to, but nodding her head nonetheless.

"Milly, I don't want to be mean... but he's gone. He left you, and went off with Juliet." Ben told her, and though he was evidently trying not to be blunt, he was being. Emily didn't mind, though. At least he was telling her what she needed to hear. "He's moving on, sweetie, and you need to move on too."

"You're right." the young woman sighed, smiling vaguely in an attempt to fool the receptionist into thinking that she was alright. Of course, her hiding her emotions was no more successful than her attempts to evade her colleagues, and the blonde dropped her smile, though she continued to speak in the same fashion. "I mean, he's moved on now, with... with her, and so I should move on too. After all, it wouldn't be fair to deny the five star gentlemen of London this, would it?"

However, though Emily spoke in the same happy manner she always tried to, there was no enthusiasm in her tone, and she could not quite bring herself to speak Juliet's name; she could barely find the strength to speak about Sam, and to speak of the person that had taken him away from her, it would be too much for her to take.

Suddenly, Ben stood up, reaching down and pulling her up with him, displaying a strength that the blonde did not know he had. An expression of confusion must have appeared on her face, as the new Head Receptionist quickly explained himself. "Let's get you changed out of... _that._" he said, indicating her creased red dress with a grimace that was not well hidden in the least. "And get you cleaned up and out on the town. You can start showing the five star gentlemen of London what they've been missing."

Twenty minutes had passed, and Emily descended the staircase to the reception area. She had changed into a blue party dress that she had had stored in her locker, as she had been due to go out on the town with Naomi and Helena, along with some other girls, and in truth, she didn't feel much like going now, but Ben was absolutely right. She had to put herself out there; it was the only way she could truly get over Sam. He had Juliet now, and it was high time she found someone of her own.

However, as she reached a point halfway between the doors and the reception desk a large shout rang out across the lobby, bringing her attention to the bar.

"SURPRISE!" cried out several voices, and Emily recognised each of them individually. Tony, James, Gino, Ben, Tanya, and even another few that she had not thought she would hear again. She turned in the direction of the bar, and was greeted with over half a dozen smiling faces. She beamed at her colleagues, although her confused expression apparently had taken permanent residence on her face, with the amount of time she had worn it that day.

"What's all this for?" she asked, glancing around at all the familiar faces, and quickly moving to wrap her arms around Anna and Jackie, who had also come along to this gathering, along with Jack, Charlie and little Scarlett Rose, utterly unaware of the situation as she slipped in and out of slumber.

"We thought we'd have a little celebration for you." Tony explained, handing the Head of PR a filled champagne flute. "It's been exactly one and a half years since you joined us at the hotel, after all, Emily, and that's a big landmark."

"Actually, I thought it'd been a little longer than that." the blonde pointed out, and Tony looked sheepish for a moment, as if he had been caught out, before Jackie butted in to finish his explanation.

"Yeah, it has, but we're counting when you became a real part of the team. And that was when you showed up that numpty chef, Otto Clark, in the middle of reception." Emily laughed at this comment, as it was one that was typical of the Australian woman. Of course, she was completely aware of the fact that they had fabricated an occasion just to hold a celebration, and was also aware of the real reason behind it, but she appreciated the gesture all the same.

She celebrated for a couple of hours, mingling with her colleagues past and present and drinking more than a couple of glasses of champagne. But by the time it had reached eleven o'clock, the smile on her face was completely forced, as she wanted nothing more than to curl up on her sofa with a box of chocolates and a soppy movie.

Noticing this and seeming to be able to read her mind once again, Ben suggested that they slip away and watch a film in the Artemis suite, which would be empty until the next day. Emily jumped at the chance and the pair slipped away, leaving the others to their celebration, and deciding in a bowl of popcorn and a HD copy of _Titanic_ to end their evening with.

The blonde woman was unsure at what time she fell asleep, but even once she had begun to drift away, the plot of the film wormed its way into her dreams, her mind displaying the image of the dream of a perfect future snatched away from a young couple in love. And just before the weightless sense of complete slumber claimed her, Emily took a moment to wonder.

'_Am I really thinking of Jack and Rose, or was that perfect future supposed to be mine with Sam?'_

A/N: I don't think this chapter is very good to be honest, but please let me know what you think anyway. Please review!


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